UA Little Rock athletics director Frank Cuervo was brought to Central Arkansas to take the school to new heights and he’s certainly doing it. With college athletics in the midst of a major transformation, it’s requiring a special skill set.
“The only constant is change right now in the collegiate athletics landscape,” Cuervo joked.
UA Little Rock announced earlier this month that the school is moving to a new athletic conference that is bringing together pieces of different conference.
“Our move to the United Athletic Conference (UAC) I think is going to be a really great one. There are a lot of advantages that we know right now that we’re going to realize, and to be honest with you, some of them, I’m not even sure we’ll fully be able to see for a few years,” he said.
The UAC includes:
- Abilene Christian University (Abilene, Texas)
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock (Little Rock, Ark.)
- Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tenn.)
- University of Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.)
- Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Ky.)
- University of North Alabama (Florence, Ala.)
- Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas)
- The University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, Texas)
- University of West Georgia (Carrollton, Ga.)
The conference realignment, which will take UA Little Rock out of the Ohio Valley Conference on July 1, 2026, shrinks the geographic reach of travel, produces the ability to develop rivalries, and offers strategic advantages on the business side, said Cuervo.
“When you look at the power of the consortium, this is kind of a revolutionary model where there are two conferences under one umbrella. So there are times where we’ll operate as individual leagues and then times where we’ll come together where it makes sense,” said Cuervo.
He also said the move allows UA Little Rock to embark on a comprehensive capital campaign, the first one in the history of Trojan Athletics.
“What we’re looking to do there is really steer strategic investment in three areas. The first is, is student athlete investment, being able to go out and get the best and the brightest talent to Little Rock. So whether that’s in the form of the traditional scholarship, the tuition fees, books, etc. Certainly in this new era with name, image and likeness (NIL) and compensation to student athletes and that form and revenue sharing, which is just a slightly different form of NIL. We want to be able to get the best and brightest here and attract them. Now once they’re here, we want to be able to run programs that are excellent, that are elite,” said Cuervo.
He said it will also help with recruiting coaching talent and facilities expansions.
Cuervo said the Jack Stephens Center, UA Little Rock’s basketball home, is 20 years old and is in need of renovations from two decades of wear and tear. There are plans to add a basketball operations center there.
“We’re also looking to build a golf training facility just south of the Coleman Sports Complex. We’ve got programs that have unprecedented access to the best courses in the region, whether it’s the Aloation Club, Chenal, Pleasant Valley and Country Club of Little Rock. Having that training facility is kind of the one missing piece to take us from top 50 to top 20,” he said.
Also, based on recent success with UA Little Rock’s baseball program, there will be a bold effort to redevelop the intersection of Asher and University in Little Rock into a baseball complex and mixed use center. It will be called the Trojan Entertainment District, or the TED.
“It reaches far beyond at the corner of Asher and University, what previously had been the University Plaza land. Our plans call for us developing a 500-seat baseball stadium and a training facility for our program. Really the comprehensive day-to-day home, likewise, to be able to develop the rest of the land in that area into mixed use, mixed use opportunities. So whether that’s retail, restaurants, other things of that nature, and just have the baseball stadium be a magnet that brings people to the area,” he said.
You can watch Cuervo’s full interview in the video below.